In an image editing application, selecting a portion of an image to be edited is a fundamental operation. For example, if a user wants to edit a particular object in an image, the user needs to draw a selection around that object. A complex object may require a significant amount of time to properly draw the selection and this time is multiplied when there are multiple similar objects to be selected. What is needed is a way to identify an object that the user has selected and provide the ability to automatically select other similar objects within the image.